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A Recent History of Humanity
Category:Human History Author Unknown A Recent History of Humanity Due to certain peculiarities of Human physiology and psychology, life on the Human home world became very unpleasant in the post–industrial age. The expected lifespan of the average Human being was enormously increased due to advances in biology and medicine but the breeding behavior of the majority of Humans was not adjusted to take this into account. Many Humans also refused to modify their industrial consumption and pollution. Accordingly, from the beginning of the so–called "Industrial Revolution" onward, Humans began very rapidly to both overpopulate and environmentally devastate their own home planet. Certain unfortunate distribution philosophies created a steadily growing number of Humans with little or no access to vital resources while others remained wealthy, overfed and wasteful. The impoverished fringe population rapidly grew despite the pressures of starvation, disease and environmental toxins on their proliferation, until they outnumbered the so–called elite of the "developed world" by a factor of ten. The resulting planetary wars and limited nuclear exchanges were even more gruesome and destructive than the effects of overpopulation and careless industrialization had been; a sizable percentage of the home world's native species were lost as well as roughly 70% of the Human population. During the Reconstruction Age a philosophical shift was observed in the surviving population of Humans. The newly emerging Consortium governments more easily signed armistices, environmental protection accords and peace agreements. War in general was no longer universally revered as the most valuable and noble of all Human endeavors as had often been the case in previous centuries. A tendency toward cooperation and mutual support was encouraged. With the discovery of the Node drive, a motive for further cooperation among the various Human Consortia was found and the available resources of several governments were pooled to fund the research and development of the first interstellar space ship. Christened the Nova Maria, the ship made several successful Node jumps to and from nearby star systems before the first deep space colony was planned. As the Nova Maria boarded its passengers for launch, intent on the first adventure of space colonization for the Human species, tragedy struck. A nesting fleet, consisting of a Dreadnought and several support vessels, arrived in the Human race’s home system. The planetary defenses of the Human race, which had never before encountered another star–faring species, were negligible and easily brushed aside by superior Hiver firepower. The Nova Maria was destroyed in the first volley with all hands lost and the Human home world was bombarded from space for 48 hours afterward, resulting in massive devastation and catastrophic loss of life. Only the legacy of Humankind's suicidal past eventually saved their home world from complete destruction. After nearly 36 hours of struggle, the curators of the planet's former ICBM arsenal finally managed to reactivate their remaining stock of ancient missiles which had been stored for decommission in the silos of the North American and Asian continents. A total of 3,000 fission and fusion bombs were launched at the descending Hiver fleet, destroying its full complement of Destroyers and causing serious damage to its Dreadnought. Thereafter, the remains of the Hiver fleet left orbit and limped on to parts presently unknown. Rebuilding from this devastation has taken the Human race several years. Although the Human home world is now lightly populated and there is little pressure to expand, certain peculiarities of Human psychology have re–emerged from their slumber. The Human race has re–learned its historical taste for war and SolForce (the united Human military) never lacks for willing volunteers. Most Human spacers have bitter memories of the Hiver attack and are old enough to have lost friends and family in the fires, floods and chaos that followed. Accordingly, although the official motto of their Space Corps is "Per Ardua Ad Astra" — "Through Hardship, the Stars" — the unofficial motto of Humans in space is "Repensum est Canicula" — "Payback is a Bitch".